Armin Laschet announces departure as party leader CDU | Abroad

Laschet is said to have said that the party is ready for a fresh start and that he wants to help by stepping aside. The CDU reports that the politician will issue a statement at headquarters at 6:30 p.m. He is expected to announce his departure publicly.

Laschet was appointed within the Christian Democrats as the successor to outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. He defeated CSU leader Mark Söder in the race for the chancellorship, but failed to win enough voters to secure the conservative bloc for another term in government.

The CDU/CSU became Germany’s second-largest party in the elections, behind Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD). This was partly due to the unpopularity of Laschet. He was dogged by scandals in the run-up to the election. Laschet, for example, came under fire for laughing during a speech by the president in a flood-affected area.

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